Obsessed, gee, thank you Beyonce

Sorry for the brief absence kids, but I’m back with a vengeance. I had the opportunity to check out last weekend’s #1 movie, “Obsessed” starring Beyonce, Idris Elba, and Ali Larter. I’ll start by saying that it’s nice to have a movie with minority leads get the top spot at the box office, especially when the movie is not a stereotypical depiction of hood life. However, next time I’d prefer a flick that was 90% more original and did not feature the entire story in the 2 minute trailer.

Idris Elba, enjoying an amazing year of work, plays Beyonce’s super successful, super suave, super naive husband Derek Charles. He is an asset manager, Jerry O’ Connell is his best friend and everything is right with the world. Until Ali Larter’s character, “Lisa”, starts working at his firm as his temp. She is immediately attracted to Derek, and who wouldn’t be, he’s attractive, successful, a loving family man, and just naive enough to not see that Lisa has become, well, obsessed with him. Beyonce plays Sharon, a no nonsense stay at home wife, who used to be Derek’s assistant at the office. Lisa takes sexual matters into her own hands at the company Christmas party by sneaking into the bathroom while Derek is taking a leak and proceeding to seduce him. After this the shit pretty much hits the fan. Lisa begins to stalk him, gets access to his car and hotel room during a business trip, and proceeds to try to make the man her own.

Idris Elba, Beyonce, Ali Larter

The movie is being tauted as Jungle Fever meets Fatal Attraction . I beg to differ, for if this movie was even 50% as good as either of those films then it would have been memorable at best. A generic screenplay fostered a promising cast that had nothing to work with. The audience’s laughter and comments during the screening made the movie more interesting. For other movies this would have spelled the kiss of death, but in this case public opinion was very welcomed. It’s nice to see a diverse cast but it’s even nicer when you don’t feel like your demographic is being mocked. Screw the Madea effect, where the studios now believe that black people will watch anything starring black people. That’s another hopeless insult to a race of people who have been insulted far too often in Hollywood. If those studio heads really believe this effect is true, then why aim so low? Why not attempt to make a well rounded movie? I hope the next time a disposable interracial suspense thriller is greenlit, the studios remember that it’s not just casting that’s important, a decent script is a necessary requirement as well.